• by Shankar Gupta , April 12, 2005

Major League Baseball and MSN, which had signed a two-year video content distribution deal in 2004, quietly parted ways earlier this year, an MSN spokesperson said.

The deal, which involved MSN offering live footage of every baseball game for a subscription fee, was terminated in February, an MSN spokesperson said. Currently, MSN still offers Major League Baseball video streams via Fox Sports. The footage is free, but not live. MSN declined to comment on the reasons for the split. "The decision for MSN and MLB to part ways is mutual," the spokesperson said. "We aren't able to share specific details about the relationship, but we can say that if other opportunities arise with MLB, MSN would be happy to work with them."

The MLB, however, has apparently already found another video provider--ESPN, on its front MLB page, is promoting its partnership with MLB.TV, touting subscriptions to the video subscription service that MSN used to offer before the split.

ESPN did not return calls for comment on the deal with MLB.TV, but the deal is being promoted on ESPN.com's Web site.